Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

itai195 · Dec 22, 2003, 03:42 PM

Well, er, it was. Anyone down in Monterrey/Carmel area have anything to say? Up here it was just gentle rolling but it was lengthy. USGS says it was 6.5, unbelievable!

Bostic · Dec 22, 2003, 03:55 PM

Originally posted by itai195:
Well, er, it was. Anyone down in Monterrey/Carmel area have anything to say? Up here it was just gentle rolling but it was lengthy. USGS says it was 6.5, unbelievable!

Mountain View here. That was quite a long quake. I went to the usgs site and saw the big red square and went wow! Over 6.0 magnitude. It had to have been at least 30-35 seconds. I'm in a 7 story building and it shook and rolled a lot.

chris v · Dec 22, 2003, 03:58 PM

So did everyone on the coast just move another 2 feet north, or what? You know, I actually kinda miss earthquakes. I recall quite a few 4-5 magnitude ones from my childhood, and the idea of "the big one" sort of lent a sense of urgency to life that we don't get 'round these here parts.

CV

itai195 · Dec 22, 2003, 03:59 PM

Yeah it's definitely strange to have such a long, gentle earthquake. I wonder how it felt to those near the epicenter. Hope everyone's okay!

Chris: I doubt it. My coworkers and I just thought we hadn't gotten enough sleep last night until we saw the lights swinging!

Misanthrope · Dec 22, 2003, 04:06 PM

I'm down in Los Angeles and it definitely woke me up.

voyageur · Dec 22, 2003, 04:13 PM

CNN says the epicenter was near San Simeon. That's where Hearst Castle is, isn't it? (It's been quite a few years since I lived in CA.) 6.5 is the size of the earthquake that devastated Coalinga, CA in 1982 or 3.

cal4ever · Dec 22, 2003, 04:15 PM

So there was an earthquake! I'm in Berkeley and I could have sworn I felt something. It wasn't that big, but I definately felt something. I was in a store trying on a pair of shoes and the place started to move, I looked around to see if a huge truck or bus passed by. I saw nothing. I asked the salesman if he felt something, but he just looked at me like I was an idiot. Nice to know I wasn't just dreaming. Hope everyone is fine. Little earthquakes are always good, I think. From my little understanding of earthquakes (correct me if I'm wrong please), little earthquakes ease the tension along the fault lines. So, better little ones that THE big one that everyone has been waiting for.

itai195 · Dec 22, 2003, 04:26 PM

Well the strange part about it is that 6.5 isn't a little earthquake by any means.

Yeah, San Simeon is where Hearst Castle is. It's actually a little town 10 or 11 miles away from the mansion, I think.

wang_himself · Dec 22, 2003, 04:39 PM

Yeah, some friends in San Luis Obispo are reporting some significan damage. They said Pasa Robles was hit hard. Several building collapses. Weird damage in weird locations.

adamk · Dec 22, 2003, 04:52 PM

Originally posted by cal4ever:
... From my little understanding of earthquakes (correct me if I'm wrong please), little earthquakes ease the tension along the fault lines. So, better little ones that THE big one that everyone has been waiting for.

that is the idea anyway. all earthquakes ease tension, though a little tension eased here can mean a little more tension is built elsewhere. aftershocks result from this.

it was considered at one time to inject fluids along known fault zones so that instead of having less frequent larger earthquakes, more frequent smaller quakes would occur to ease the tension. but then someone realized that if a large earthquake was triggered, it'd be one hell of a lawsuit.

adam

Judge_Fire · Dec 22, 2003, 06:57 PM

The list of recent quakes at USGS is quite impressive, with central california pretty much in the starring role:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqs...uakes_all.html

I've been following it for awhile, but haven't seen anything as continuous, except the regular action in Alaska.

If it keeps on rumbling, you might be interested in this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3183047.stm

J

kiwibabe · Dec 22, 2003, 08:56 PM

You only had a 6.5, is that all?

Two months ago we had a 7.2! It went on for about 2 minutes it nearly scared me to death, it didnt help that it was midnight. It was a rattler!

I hope you guys have emergency food and water.

Brien · Dec 22, 2003, 08:59 PM

I actually didn't feel the damn thing (then again I slept through Northridge).

mr. burns · Dec 22, 2003, 10:01 PM

interesting. don't know if people in san jose felt it, but if they did, i was sleeping :]

malson · Dec 22, 2003, 10:20 PM

I was on the phone with someone in Visalia, CA while the quake was going on. I have no idea where that is in relation to the epicenter but she said it was "shaky" and that some columns in their courtyard were swaying pretty good...

Spheric Harlot · Dec 22, 2003, 10:22 PM

Two women died.

...

King Bob On The Cob · Dec 22, 2003, 10:56 PM

You have Earthquakes, I'll keep my F5 Tornados.

Ah the joys of the midwest. (Well unless that damn San Andreas fault acts up again, in which case the sandy soil around here would carry the quake for miles and decimate my house)

DigitalEl · Dec 23, 2003, 04:14 AM

I'm just waiting for the first TV news idiot to refer to it being a 6.5 on the "Richter" Scale. I slept through my only earthquake experience. Didn't even realize there had been one 'til I was driving to work that evening and all the traffic lights were out and ATMs were offline.